Rent Goes Up, No One Cares

By now you should have gotten your new December rent for what you owe our landlord.  Remarkably there has almost been no comment from our TA, which has basically said the same thing over again: Albany. So, unless you are in SCRIE or some other program, you will be paying more for the pleasure of living here.

I know what I will be doing: Distributing less of my limited supply of money to the stores around here that need the money but which I can't give that much of because of this increase. I need to pay more to live here. Simple as that.

I pity the tenants who have to pay much more than I do. How do they do it, unless they decided to move out because of money? Unless, for some, a illegality of their lease can seem the way out?

Some people are dying here. Oh, not really leaving this mortal coil (though some do that, too), but spiritually. If you are not affected by the prices here, consider yourself lucky.

Our current landlord, Blackstone and Ivanhoe, doesn't really care. Oh, their reps can offer a nice word or colored lights for the season, but they just want this complex to meet and exceed its monetary demands. To them, success is not the same as your success.

Though there have been some positive changes under our new landlord, I still see the same infractions and still come across the same unwillingness to tackle these problems, aside from some sympathy. Yeah, thanks for that.

As we head to the holidays, I don't see much I can be cheerful about. I can only hunker down and try my best. Some of us are in the same boat. And some of us, aren't.

You Get the Idea....

Do I need to comment? All photos, except at the bottom (an official Stuy Town promo that doesn't show carpeting as per official instructions), are from the SpareRoom site, which is a treasure drove of apartments such as these.

 

https://www.stuytown.com/questions/why-is-80-carpet-coverage-required

And Now For Something Completely Different

Well, it is the fall.... By the Oval Fountain. And these leaf colors won't be there for long...

Important News: Public Safety and ST Workers Will Drive Little Tikes Cars

Management has heard your concerns and beginning next year, PS and ST workers will drive adult-size "Little Tikes" vehicles to go around the property.

"Yes, it was a no-brainer when we at Blackagain looked at it," stated GM Rick Duckalways. "This way, our residents will feel safer, and even those we hit (watch out, seniors!) will laugh about it when they wake up in the hospital."

First, though, a tool attachment on the back will have to be placed on the "Little Tikes."

"It is tough dealing with the population explosion here and all the AirBnb apartments. But where there is a will, there is a way," assured Duckalways.

The new Little Tikes vehicles will begin appearing in February, 2018.

Demo video:

Slowly but surely?

I've come to the realization that it can take some time and a lot of patience to implement any change in the city and, more particularly, in this complex. Aside from the usual infractions here, I have decided to zero in on two: One, motorized bikes. They are illegal to use, but there is a loophole, and it's a big one. The bikes can be around, but the motor can't be running. In other words, one can have a motorized bike but the motor can't be on. Doesn't make sense, but this is what the rule is. So, you have, for instance, Ess-a-Bagel, a tenant here, using motorized bikes, particularly in the busy weekend, but their "drivers" can turn off the motorization near Ess-a-Bagel and turn it back on once they are in the city proper, out on the streets. The police can't do anything if the bikes are not seen and running. (Of course, they are seen all the time, but that is another issue.) There is one way to stop this game: Make motorized bikes illegal in the city whether they are running or not. Only the City Council can do that. It seems simple, but were it so.

The second change is enforcing the dog lanyard rule. This is not my rule, but that of current management, with the General Manager, Rick Hayduk, stating:

"We'll be introducing a new process to identify registered dogs thus enabling Public Safety Officers to clearly approach offending dog owners. The registration will hang from the leash handle; clearly identifying the dog as registered.

"If the dog is not registered by May 1; a summons will be issued at the point of contact. If we learn the dog owner is not a resident, they will be escorted off the property."

This was stated in February, 2016.

As we know, the rule is continually not enforced. I have been here a long time (decades) but I've yet to see someone escorted out for not following this rule. My impression, from reading a couple of blogs dedicated to this complex, is that the ignoring of this rule is common knowledge. I would want this rule enforced and I will work toward that, despite the lack of will power to enforce it.

As I stated, there are other infractions, but these are the ones I will be reporting on and trying to change. And I am not the only one.